Nano print may still face sizeable hurdles

 

Without doubt, the name most talked about at Drupa was Benny Landa and his new printing technology based on nano particle-sized pigments. Landa reinvented printing once before with the groundbreaking Indigo technology, which was eventually taken over by HP as its mainstream entry into the production sector. Indigo was based around liquid ink technology that also used fine pigment particles, so it seems logical that a newer technology should follow that same path down the nano route.

 

Nano technologies are extremely interesting. It is an area of science that is gathering a great deal of funding for research such as energy efficiency, pollution control, strength increase in polymers and anti-bacteria dressings post surgery. There are so many potential uses for nano technologies. These include medical applications where small gold-coated particles are being evaluated for the accurate delivery of chemotherapy drugs to cancer suffers. “Nano’ simply means “extremely small”. In some cases – depending on the application – a nano object or machine could be as small as a few atoms. One interesting area of research in nano­technology is what is known as “self-assembling systems”. These are special nano particles that are pre-programmed to build tiny structures once mixed together.

Nano particles do not adhere to the same rules of physics as larger particles. For example, if you were to drop a tennis ball, it falls to the ground. If you drop a nano particle, it might drop, it might float, it might go up or go anywhere.

A number of industries have gone into nano technologies. The most widely known would be the sunscreen industry where atom-sized particles are mixed into sun block. These particle can physically block damaging UV radiation from the sun and so they offer much better protection than sun cream previously could. Another benefit is that the nano particles are so small that sun cream can be made clear: no more white paste.

Despite the tremendous benefits of a clear, highly protective sun cream made from nanotechnology, there are health risks that are yet to be determined. Nano particles are so small they can penetrate the human skin and enter into the bloodstream. According to some concerned groups, the result is unpredictable health outcomes that could develop from the unknown properties of such small particles.

While it is true that any print-based technology made from nano particles is not about to be applied to human skin, research needs to be carried out to ensure the industry is not adopting technologies that at some point in time might come back to haunt it.

In the past, unhealthy pigments have been gradually removed from the trade. The same arguments will logically apply to nanotechnology. While lead-based pigments were used in a great deal of printing, it was unlikely they would find their way into human bloodstream. However, the risk was deemed high enough for the lead and other heavy metal pigments to be banned. While nano technologies have been widely discussed at Drupa this year, it will be interesting to see any hurdles the technology will find in front of it.

Phillip Lawrence is a PhD scholar, consultant and speaker who specialises in print and the environment

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